Empowered
by Noxlux013
Summary: Humanity fears what is different, what it does not understand. But what happens when humanity has more in common with the unknown than expected? Ash Ketchum strives to become a Pokémon Master in a world were Pokémon are not the only species with amazing powers.


"The world is inhabited by wondrous creatures that hold sway over the elements. These creatures are called Pokémon. But Pokémon are not the only inhabitants of this planet. Another species, humans, peacefully coexist with Pokémon - but this was not always the case. At the dawn of time, humanity fear the creatures that could call on thunder and ice as easily as breathing. Tribes huddled close together while smoky fires lent dubious protection from the red glowing eyes that cackled in the dark. Arceus, Creator of Pokémon saw this tragedy and resolved to find a solution. He sought a way to create peace between his creations and the humans, for he was not the one who created the humans. Arceus searched tirelessly as tensions between Man and Pokémon increased, disputes over land a resources flaring up more and more often.

Then, the inevitable happened. A pack of Pokémon, angered at the death of their pups because of a particularly harsh winter, attacked a human village for food. By the end of the raid, three Pokémon and seven humans laid cold on the ground. This sparked into the first conflict of the Warring Era, a series of on and off skirmishes between the two species. Humanity relied on its ingenuity to produce machines of war to counter the elemental abilities their enemies possessed. Arceus despaired, fearing that his children and the humans would slaughter each other, bringing about mutual extinction.

However, even Arceus is not all knowing. A young man on the cusp of adulthood, wandering from village to village, discovered an egg deep in the mountains. The parents were gone, having fled or been killed. The man took the egg and cared for it, raising the young Pokémon as if it was his own child. He gave it the name, Lukas, though its own kind knew it as Togepi. When the young Pokémon came of the age that it would learn the techniques of its kind, the young man aided it, and inadvertently made a discovery that would change the way of the world, forever.

Lukas had been learning what now is called metronome. To properly perform the move, the young togepi had to waggle its finger in a very specific manner. The young man had seen the move used before and was acting as an example, waving his finger back and forth. Then, unexpectedly, the young man, a human, performed encore. He had accidentally used metronome. Arceus, who had been observing the human-pokémon parent and child pair, was struck speechless. Something that has only happened three other times since then. He sent a messenger to the man in the shape of Mew, Arceus's first child. Through Mew, Arceus asked the man to spread his discovery that humans could use the same techniques as Pokémon. The man, known as Artur, was astounded. "Why would you have me do this?" He asked. "Would not it be better if humans did not know this? What if they turn on the other pokémon? For now the two sides are at a stalemate. If humans have access to the same power as you, there will be massacres across the land!"

"Humanity fears that which it does not understand. By having something in common of this magnitude, it is my hope that your kind will become more understanding to pokémon. To aid you in this task, I bestow upon you a splinter of my power. Use in defense of the innocent, to cast Judgement on the guilty." Having said his part, Mew left Artur and Lukas.

Artur traveled throughout the human kingdoms village by village, instructing a few disciples in each region who would in turn teach others. He did not only visit humans, however. He asked the council of many wise old Alakazam, sparred with noble Lucario, and experienced the simple joys of gardening among the Gardevoir and Gallade. As he traveled, he learned many moves of all eighteen types, helping victims of both greed and natural disaster alongside other pokémon and humans that followed his example. Many pokémon saw the benefit of having a human companion, and the humans considered themselves lucky to have the aid of a strong pokémon. To control the battle lust that many individuals-both human and pokémon-possessed, Artur erected a system for fighting. Battles were for pokémon on pokémon fights, spars are between humans, and duels involve a human and their partner pokémon facing off against another pair. "An elderly man in a lab coat stood in front of a whiteboard on the TV screen. Crow's feet in the corner of black eyes and brown hair peppered gray gave the man a distinguished air.

He continued his lecture,"This legend is the first written record of a Pokémon Trainer. The terms and rules mentioned are the basis of today's system of battles, spars, and duels. We have, of course, learned quite a bit about the power we have discovered. All humans are able to use what is dubbed the "Normal" type. It is believed that the "Artur" mentioned in the fable was a Legendary Class, the rarest type which is able to use the normal type and 14 to 17 of the pokémon types. After Legendary is Very Rare, able to use 8-13 types in addition to the normal type; Rare, with the ability to use 4-7; Uncommon, which possesses 2-3; and Common, which only has one type other than the normal type. About 50% of the human population holds the Common classification, while Artur is the only recorded Legendary class. Many view the Normal type as the weakest due to its commonality, but-" The TV screen went dark as an arm set the remote down. The owner of said arm sighed and rubbed his head.

"I've heard this lecture way too many times already and it's getting late. Bedtime." The speaker was a young man about 14 years of age with tan skin, blue-black eyes, and jet black hair. A notable feature would be the zigzag marks adorning each cheek. "Actually knowing all this makes me glad they changed the age limit, even if waiting four years was a pain in the ass," he grumbled.

This is Ash Ketchum, Pokémon Trainer hopeful. Previously the age limit was only 10 years old. A few months before ash's tenth birthday another newbie trainer ended up injured attempting to catch a pokémon far above his level-not out of arrogance , but ignorance. The trainer spent nearly sixteen months in a coma and now ran a circuit of talks raising awareness for the situation. As a result of the tragedy, governments around the world raised the age limit on trainers and passes laws that forced trainer hopefuls to take an exam before receiving certification. Only a 70% was needed to pass it, but only those that scored better than 90% could obtain a starter pokémon from the local professor. Ash was lucky enough, and studied enough, to get a 93% on his exam. Tomorrow was the day for him to meet the pokémon that would accompany him on his journey. Unfortunately, he was too wound up to sleep.

"Alright, let's look over what moves I know." Ash, like his friend/rival Gary Oak, was a Rare class, able to learn Electric, Grass, Fire, Water, and Fighting type moves in addition to Normal type. But where Ash preferred a Sweeper style of combat—hit hard and fast, Professor Oak's grandson prefer a Tank style of combat—taking a few hits to land even more on the opponent.

"I have a total of six moves, one for each type I know, which is pretty balanced type wise. I know Quick Attack, useful for getting in close or getting the hell out of dodge. Ember isn't the most powerful attack, but it's useful for starting campfires too. Thundershock is the same; it's cool to be a human taser, but I'm probably gonna charge batteries more often than knock out pokémon. Water Shuriken is a pretty useful move, I can chunk multiple shuriken at range at decent accuracy. Grass Knot is probably my most situational move, but it's a good setup for my final move, Force Palm. Knock 'em down and keep 'em down. Being so balanced makes it hard to choose a starter though. Bulbasaur is nice but slow, and only gets slower. Squirtle is pretty fast, but Blastoise gets pretty heavy. Not to mention Gary has had his eye on a Squirtle. I'd rather not deal with him whining about taking the Pokémon he wanted. Charmander is agile, and Charizard can fly. He'd be perfect for me, but like I said, Gary wants a Squirtle. Water beats Fire. Aargh! I'll figure it out in the morning."

Ash got dressed in a T-shirt and sweatpants, turned off the light, and climbed into bed.

"Bulbasaur, Squirtle, Charmander, I guess I could work with any of them…"

* * *

Ash woke up the next morning with the chirping of the pidgey. Sitting up, he shifted to the edge of the bed and yawned.

"I don't have to head to Professor Oak's lab until ten o'clock or so, and it's only half-past eight now. I guess I have time for a shower, who knows when I'll have access to hot water again. Wonder what mom's making for breakfast."

Stepping out of the bathroom, the teen grabbed a pair of khaki cargo pants and the black T-shirt he planned on wearing. Lacing up his hiking boots, he shrugged on his blue and white jacket and finished his outfit with black fingerless gloves and the Indigo League hat he had won in a raffle years ago. Making his way down stairs, he saw his mother bustling around the kitchen, preparing a full breakfast spread to celebrate the first day of his pokémon journey.

"Morning, Ash. Are you ready for the first step of your journey?"

"Morning Mom. I guess so, still not sure which starter to pick."

Delia walked over to Ash and swept him up in a hug, ignoring his half-hearted protests. "Don't worry sweetheart. I'm sure once you actually meet them you'll be able to make a choice. Come sit down and have breakfast, it's the most important meal of the day you know."

Finished with breakfast, Ash cleared his plate and left, promising to stop by to show his mom which starter he chose. Walking up the steps to Professor Oak's sprawling laboratory and pokémon ranch, Ash rang the doorbell five minutes earlier than the announced time for the trainer meeting. One of the professor's aides poked her head out the door. "Oh, good morning Ash, you're just in time. The others are waiting for you in the main lab."

"Am I late, I could have sworn I was on time.."

"No no, you're right on time. The other three showed up almost an hour early."

Making his way through the compound, Ash arrived at the main research area of the building. Various pieces of experimental technology were scattered about the room, ranging from the size of his hand to one machine the size of a Snorlax, some prototype reactor if he remembered correctly, an Ace reactor, Act reactor, something like that. Bookshelves full of resource texts and scientific journals lined one wall, while the professor himself was standing near a table where three teens were situated. Ash recognized the three. Gary, Ash's rival when he was a jerk and friend when he was slightly less of a jerk, wearing a plain long sleeve blue shirt and jeans, his lucky pendant around his neck. In the chair next to him sat a squirtle. ' _Must have gotten to choose early. Ahh, nepotism.'_ Ash thought to himself. The other two teens he wasn't as familiar with. Oscar he knew came from Viridian City, and prefered an orange prominent outfit, as displayed by the tracksuit he currently wore. A charmander stood in his lap, holding its tail carefully away from anything flammable. The last teen, Rose, was from Cinnabar Island if he remembered correctly, and was wearing a purple sun dress. A bulbasaur was squatting next to her chair. Seeing the three starters out and already seemingly chosen brought a sinking feeling to Ash's stomach. Three starters, four trainers… why was it he was just now realizing the math didn't add up?

"Ah, Ash! There you are my boy!" Oak's greeting caught the attention of the three trainers who had been conversing quietly.

"Good Morning Professor. Uh, not to sound rude, but I'm not sure why you only have three Pokémon when there's four of us. Am I getting a Pokémon?" Ash replied worriedly.

"Well, with Rose's recent move from the Johto region, the numbers were thrown off. Otherwise my colleague Professor Elm would have given her a starter. Not to worry though, I was able to obtain a suitable starter for you." Pulling a standard pokéball from his lab coat pocket, Oak handed it to the young trainer. Ash noticed there was a small lightning bolt sticker on the front. ' _An electric type?'_ he wondered. With a simple cry of "Go, Pokemon" the raven haired teen released the creature with a flash of red light.

With a yawn, a small yellow rodent appeared on the floor near his feet. Shaking itself, the electric mouse blinked a few times and looked around. "Pika?"

"A Pikachu? I didn't know they could be a starter." Ash mused.

"Oh, even with you helping out at the ranch so much, there's quite a bit you still don't know Ash. Technically, any Pokémon can be a starter. Those that live in Viridian City, for instance, and don't score high enough on the Trainer Entrance Exam to obtain one of my lab's starter Pokémon, often start with one of the Nidoran or a Mankey. This particular Pikachu has been recently caught, so it still may be a tad unruly, but it has a solid move set for a starter and even has the potential to learn Volt Tackle if my scans are correct."

That was rather impressive. Volt Tackle was a move that only the Pichu evolutionary line could learn, and only if they were born as a Pichu, not a Pikachu as most were. Having to deal with a newly caught pokémon would be worth it for the chance to have such a powerful move in his arsenal someday.

The current subject of their conversation had been quiet up until now, sniffing around the new environment it had found itself in. The new sights and smells almost overwhelmed the forest raised pokémon until a heavenly smell caught its attention. Checking on the Old One, he saw the human was talking to one of the young ones still, and snuck off to find the source of such a delicious smell.

"So Professor, what moves does Pikachu know?" Ash was curious.

"Well, like most starter pokémon, it only knows two moves, one of which is a damage dealing move and the other is a stat changing move. In Pikachu's case, it knows Thundershock, much like yourself, Quick Attack, which you are familiar with, and Growl, which can unnerve opponents so much they don't attack as forcefully as normal."

"Not bad for just starting out, but plenty to improve on, I wouldn't have it any other way. I plan on becoming a Pokémon Master and handholding would only drag me down."

"Well said Ash. Oh I almost forgot, these spare pokéballs and this Pokédex are yours. Keep that Pokédex close, it acts as an identification for you, contain databases for both Pokémon and moves, and keeps track of the winnings you may receive from facing other trainers. But enough of that. Now you must face your first challenge as a Trainer," Oak said dramatically.

"What, you mean a battle?"

"No, rescuing my aide and his lunch from your ketchup hungry mouse. Anthony gave it a french fry the other day with some on it and that little mouse was addicted. I believe Anthony brought a hamburger for lunch today…"

"Gah! My lunch! Shoo! Shoo!"

Ash simply hung his head. "Not quite what I expected…"

"Cheer up Ash, at least now you have the perfect bribe," Professor Oak consoled him.

Ash perked up at that. "True, I didn't even consider that, thanks Professor."

"Hey Ashy-boy, once you get your rat back, how's about we have ourselves a little duel," Gary spoke up, having been quiet until now.

"You're on Gary!" With that, Ash rushed off to part his Pikachu from the pilfered lunch.

* * *

Ash, after much begging and playing to the electric type's pride, finally got Pikachu to release the tattered remains of what had been a hearty lunch. Bolstered with promises of an entire bottle of the red goodness, the mouse had scampered up Ash's leg and torso, sitting on his shoulder and pointing imperiously toward the back door. Pikachu had been at the ranch for three days already and was well aware of the location of the field the resident pokémon used to keep their martial skills sharp. Ash laughed at the small pokémon's antics. "Alright, alright, I'm going. Sheesh, so bossy."

Making his way to the practice field, Ash saw that Gary and his Squirtle were already waiting on one end of the field. The other trainers and a few researchers were sitting in the rickety stands and Professor Oak was standing on the sidelines, acting as referee. Taking his place, Oak began to set the rules of the duel."This will be a single match duel. Each Trainer is only allowed one Pokémon. When both the Trainer and Pokemon of one side has been defeated, I will call the match. In addition, I will stop the match if I feel it necessary. Trainers, release your Pokémon and prepare yourselves." Ash and Gary slid into ready stances, while Squirtle emulated his Trainer and Pikachu leapt from Ash's shoulder, cheeks sparking faintly.

"Begin!" the Professor thundered.

"PIkachu, deal with that squirtle. I'll handle Gary. Be careful, squirtle might be at a disadvantage, but Gary has some moves that might surprise you," Ash said quickly, using Quick Attack to dash across the field toward Gary. Gary had given his own instructions and had employed a rushed Swords Dance before approaching rapidly as well. Forming three Water Shuriken between his knuckles on each hand, Ash uncrossed his arms, launching the projectiles toward the brown haired trainer. Seeing the aquatic missiles, Gary spewed several Bullet Seeds from his mouth, intercepting and nullifying both attacks.

By this point the two pokémon had also reached melee range, Pikachu opening with a Growl that made Squirtle abort his Tail Whip. Lunging for the tiny turtle pokemon Pikachu leapt forward, emulating his trainer with a Quick Attack that missed as Squirtle retreated into its shell with a Withdraw. Seizing on the water type's immobility, the electric mouse snapped off a quick Thundershock, making Squirtle cry out in pain, though it wasn't as bad as the attack could have been.

Gary was holding Ash at bay with a series of alternating Thunder Waves and Water gun attacks while the raven haired trainer attempted to close the distance as his hands glowed blue with the aura of a Force Palm. Glancing over at how Pikachu was doing, he saw that Squirtle was content to stay in its shell and wait out the electric type who's Thundershocks were barely chipping away at the turtle's nonconductive shell. Coming up with an idea, Ash disengaged from Gary and sped over to the other fight with Quick Attack enhanced speed.

"I may not know Strength, but squirtle don't weigh all that much anyways!" he yelled as he grabbed the starter pokemon by its shell and chucking it back towards its trainer. Gary, caught off guard by the unorthodox tactic gaped for a second before trying to move out of the way of the ballistic turtle.

"Oh no you don't!" Slamming his hands to the ground, Ash focused briefly before the grass at Gary's feet grew quickly and entangled him, locking him in place.

"Oh, come o-" Gary's complaint was cut off as twenty pounds of turtle slammed into him. Good news, he got out of the Grass Knot. Bad news, Ash and Pikachu had regrouped. And were glowing.

"Thundershock!"

"Pika!"

The two individual electric attacks merged together into a single bolt of lightning and raced down field.

"Quick, Water Gun!" Following his own instructions, the young Oak began to spew gallons of water in hopes of blocking the oncoming attack, bolstered by Squirtle's own contribution. The two enhanced attacks met near the center of the field. However, despite Gary's hopes, the two did not simply create a harmless explosion as he had hoped. Instead the electrical attack continued through the water gun, striking both Trainer and Pokémon. The mass of water also continued and washed the other two combatants into the low retaining wall surrounding the field.

Professor Oak, after looking over each pair, made the call. "Neither side is able to continue. This duel is a draw,' he pronounced. Having officially ended the duel, he hurried onto the field toward his grandson, noting that Ash and Pikachu were shaking themselves off and simply waterlogged. They would have to be checked for possible concussions, but he doubted there would be any worries. Ash had the hardest head he'd ever seen - and he'd studied the skeletons of Cranidos. His grandson on the other hand, seemed to be paralyzed along with his Squirtle, only able to twitch slightly. Reaching into his seemingly bottomless pockets, the pokémon professor pulled out a Paralyze Heal and applied it.

"Not bad for your first time. Learning to cut off the flow of water type attacks wasn't something I learned to do until my fourth gym badge in Vermilion City. I had to rechallenge the gym there because of a similar situation as this. Consider yourself lucky to learn such a valuable lesson so early."

"Yeah, I guess so. At least I was able to knock Ashy-boy on his ass."

Language!" his grandfather chided sternly. By this point Ash had dried himself off and made his way to his mentor. "Ah, Ash, I was just going over the duel with Gary here. It seems you both have learned from this encounter. If Gary had cut the flow of his attack before making contact with your own, then the two would have simply canceled each other out. Explosively. However, water is a conductor, so your attack went through it without affecting the water at all. Be mindful of such situations; you may have your own attack overwhelmed or neutralized so always be prepared to dodge. That having been said, good job both of you. For the amount of time you've spent with your pokémon, this was nothing short of extraordinary. I'm sure you both will go quite far, maybe even make it to the League Championships."

"Thank you Professor, but it's almost lunch time. Mom will want to see Pikachu and I want to at least get half way to Viridian before nightfall. I'll make sure to contact you with any questions." Turning to his rival, "We'll have a rematch once we've both trained up a bit alright? So don't lose to anyone till then."

"Ha," Gary scoffed," you should follow your own advice. I'll be fine. Smell ya later Ash."

With a wave, Ash turned around and left the two Oaks at the Practice Field.

* * *

"Ah, finally on our way!"

The stop at the Ketchum residence had been brief and embarrassing, what with Ms. Ketchum's continued mothering. Luckily he was able to distract her with Pikachu while Ash raided the house for ketchup and other essentials, all of which were put into his bag. Originally he had planned on simply bringing a backup, but after realizing just how much stuff would be needed to set up camp for even one night, he upgraded to a larger messenger bag that had plenty of room for clothes, food, and even a tent and sleeping bag. After a final goodbye that had tears all around -though Ash would never admit it- the future Pokémon Master began the first step of his journey, traveling along Route 01 to Viridian City. Just outside the outskirts of town, however, Ash decided he wanted to check something.

"Hey, hold still a sec Pikachu, I wanna see what the Pokédex has to say about you."

Obliging his trainer, Pikachu hopped down and stood at attention. Ash opened the Pokédex and pointed it at the mouse.

Greetings, I am Pokédex unit 07, designation "Dexter". This Pokémon is a Pikachu, the Electric Mouse Pokémon. When several of these Pokémon gather, their electricity could build up and cause lightning storms. Forest dwellers, they are few in number and exceptionally rare. The pouches in their cheeks discharge electricity at their opponents. The Pikachu are believed to be highly intelligent. This Pikachu is Male and has the Sassy nature. It has the ability Static and the Hidden Ability Lightning Rod. This Pikachu knows Growl and Thundershock and has the potential to learn Volt Tackle. It also has the potential to unlock the Egg Move Brick Break.

"An egg move? Wonder why Professor Oak didn't mention that earlier…anyway, the Pewter City Gym is first on the list. It's a rock type gym so that will help out a lot, but let's see what else you can learn. Just a spamming one move make a battle get boring fast. Hmm… Well, you can learn Quick Attack, which is something I already know, so let's focus on that first. For now though, let's get as far as we can while the sun's still up.

"Pika!" He nodded in agreement.

The pair continued down the path as clouds started to creep across before eventually the forest opened up into a large open field. Ratatata scurried through the grass while pidgey pecked at the dirt for bugs. In the distance Ash could make out some sort of flying type circling high above.

"So, what do you say to a Pidgey or Spearow as a teammate?"

The electric type lazily shrugged, "Chu?"

"That's really not helpful," Ash replied dryly. "Let's just see what we come across." As he spoke, one of the previously mentioned Pokémon wandered out of the brush into the middle of the path.

"Perfect! Spearow, I challenge you!" The tiny bird pokémon's head snapped around and it let out a piercing cry of challenge itself. "Alright, Pikachu let's start with a Thundershock!

"Ka-Chuuu!" As the surge of lightning raced toward it, the spearow tried to take off in hopes of dodging, but was a hair too late. The thundershock hit dead on, lighting the bird up and sending it crashing back to the ground. Picking itself back up, it glared at the human and the rat that had damaged it. "Spear-owwww!"

It's cry of outrage was answered as it's flock came to the aid of one of its own.

"Tch, sore loser," Ash muttered. "Come on Pikachu, let's make tracks!"

As the swirling swarm of vicious bird pokémon took to the skies to pursue the interlopers, Ash pounded down the trail, thunder echoing overhead. Spearow began to dive, beaks glowing with Peck or Fury Attack, in hopes of teaching the human a lesson. Lightning began to burst from his shoulder like anti-air rounds as Pikachu attempted to hold the pursuers back long enough to reach shelter. Ash helped when he could, snapping off a Thundershock over his shoulder on occasion, but mostly focused on running. He knew they were at least half way to Viridian. If they could just cross the river they would be home free. Something land square on his head, something small and wet. "I swear, if that's what I think it is, I'm gonna have Spearow wings for dinner," he growled. At that moment the clouds released their burden, pouring rain in sheets. While Ash was grateful for the rain that would make electric type moves more accurate and make the Spearow less accurate, he didn't want to imagine what this amount of rain would do to the normally placid river they were approaching. Just as the river came in sight, Ash heard something that made his blood run cold.

"Feearoow!"

The leader of the flock was here. The old Fearow had Ash in his sights, and he was angry. His long, lance-like beak began to glow as he dove, a grinding sound filling the air, audible even over the rain and thunder. Ash dove out of the way, dirt flying in all directions. Unfortunately, he dove right into the river. The normally calm stream had grown swollen and violent, quickly pulling Ash downstream as he and Pikachu struggled to keep their heads above water. The roar of water got louder and louder before a waterfall came into view.

"Oh, come on, since when was that there! Deep breath Pikachu!" Was all he could say before the duo went over the falls.

* * *

A few miles farther downstream, a red haired tomboy was practicing while a fishing rod was wedged into the rocks near the stream. A bell attached to the rod acted as an early alert system for the girl.

"Alright, let's try this again, she grumbled. Shifting into a ready stance, the red head lifted her arms in concentration. A small cone began to form, rapidly growing into an enormous swirl of water.

"Whirlpool!"

The spinning mass of water began to move in the direction it was flung before it suddenly fell

apart.

A Psyduck napping nearby opened one eye to observe the move. "Psy." he observed.

"Shut up you stupid duck! No one asked for your opinion." The jingling of a bell interrupted what was gearing up to be quite the proverbial squall. "Oh, I got a bite!" Rushing over , she plucked the rod from where it was wedged, staggering under the weight. "Wow, I don't know any Pokémon that's this heavy, not without it being the size of a Gyarados that is. It's a, it's a… it's a guy?"

Hanging from the back of his jacket was a thoroughly waterlogged Ash Ketchum, Pikachu held tightly in his arms. Dragging the teen onto dry land, she felt for a pulse and was relieved to feel a steady beat, though a bit too slow to be healthy. By this point the Pikachu had groggily slipped out of the boy's arms, shaking the excess water from its fur. Seeing his trainer wasn't moving, Pikachu decided to be helpful and give him a bit of a shock. Of course, with Pikachu, "little" is relative. His zap ended up hitting not just Ash, but the red headed girl as well.

"Whoa, what? Where'd that Fearow go?" Cute girl or not, Ash had priority on staying alive.

"Ugh, what Fearow?" The girl groaned, still slightly crispy.

"The Fearow and its sore losers of a flock that chased me into the river in the first place. How far is Viridian?"

"Viridian? About two or three miles." She replied confused. Distant cawing could be heard interspersed with the boom of thunder. A storm was coming, and the avian Pokémon were being pushed ahead of it like chaff in the wind.

"Crap! They're catching up!" Ash blurted out. "You should run too miss, I doubt those Spearow will be picky when comes to targets."

The teens began to rush down the road, the first few raindrops hitting the first with dull thuds and puffs of dust.

"What the Hell. Did you do. To piss off. That many. Spearow!" The girl panted.

"Tried to catch one. Spearow. Are. Sore. Losers. Keep. Running." Ash gasped back. The nonstop running was starting to take its toll on him. He was by no means out of shape, but he wasn't necessarily _in_ shape either.

The storm had overtaken both the pursuers and the pursued by this point, clouds heavy with rain releasing their payload. Lightning struck sporadically, any chance of a forest fire drowned in the deluge.

"We can't keep this up, we have to get rid of them!" The redhead yelled.

"Great idea! How?" Ash shot back.

"If only your Pikachu was stronger, or if I knew a move effective against Flying types," she groaned.

"Stronger? That's it! Pikachu, get ready!" Ash's eyes gained a rather scary gleam. Turning to face the oncoming horde, he pulled Pikachu from his shoulder. "When you get the chance, let loose with the strongest Thundershock you've got, okay?"

"Pika?" Pikachu tilted his head in confusion before his eyes widened in horrified comprehension. "Pika!"

"Yaaah!" With a heave, Pikachu was airborne. And the likeliest target for incoming lightning. Two bolts shot from the heaven in quick succession, striking the electric mouse dead on. Grinning evilly at the surge of power, Pikachu turned his attention toward the still approaching flock.

"Pika-chuuu!"

Route 01 experienced an unexpected downpour of Spearow. And one Fearow.

* * *

 **So, this is the result of a bit of writer's block on Custos in Elementis. Remember that whole gambling plan that was cooked up in the last chapter of Custos in Elementis? Yeah, turns out I know jack squat about casinos and gambling in general. Instead I have this, "Empowered," though I'm open to suggestions for a better title. Also, with how Pokémon episodes are, longer chapters are much more likely in this story.**

 **Review, tell me what I did wrong, what I did right, and what you want to see next chapter!**

 **~Noxlux013**


End file.
